As I've said before, 200 films is a reasonable list - not too long, not too short. Empire's list of 201 has enough space for many films ignored in traditional top-100 lists (La Haine, Casino, and Dawn Of The Dead, for instance). However, at only 5%, foreign-language films are still hugely under-represented.

There is also a strong bias in favour of recent releases, remakes, and sequels. Is it really necessary to have two Star Wars films and two Lord Of The Rings films so high up the list, and why include the Scarface remake yet exclude the original version? Some Like It Hot is the 1959 comic masterpiece, not the obscure 1939 comedy. Note also that Crash is the Paul Haggis Oscar-winner, not the scandalous David Cronenberg film, and Titanic is the James Cameron version. There have been many adaptations of Romeo & Juliet; this one is the Baz Luhrmann version.

A handful of the highest-placed films in this poll have ranked in similar positions in other recent polls, and we can compare the new list with previous Empire polls (100 Favourite Films Of All Time, 1996; Your 100 Greatest Films Ever!, 1999; The 50 Best Films, 2001; 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time, 2004). For example: Pulp Fiction (1996: #1, 1999: #6, 2001: #10, 2004: #7, 2006: #6), Star Wars IV (1996: #2, 1999: #1, 2001: #1, 2004: #2, 2006: #4), The Lord Of The Rings I (2004: #1, 2006: #3), and The Shawshank Redemption (1996: #53, 1999: #4, 2001: #3, 2004: #5, 2006: #1). Thus, perhaps a new canon is forming.